Friedrich joins open forum at UH

REMEMBER actor John Friedrich? Even if you don't, you probably recall his films, which include the "The Thorn Birds" in 1983, "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble" with John Travolta in 1976 and "Thank God It's Friday" in 1978. After becoming relatively famous in his teens and 20s, he left the Hollywood scene in favor of a quiet life in the world of financial services. Right about the time Friedrich began to consider acting "an unfinished chapter in my life," University of Hawaii communications professor and filmmaker Marc Moody tracked him down in New Mexico and invited him to Hawaii to participate in an open forum similar to the "Actors' Studio." It's free and will take place at 7:30 p.m. May 1 in Room 205 in the Architecture Building on the UH-Manoa campus.

In a six-degrees-of-separation-like twist, "Lost" producer/director Jack Bender directed Friedrich in a play when Bender was fresh out of USC and Friedrich was only 16. During his upcoming weeklong jaunt in Hawaii -- Friedrich's first to the islands -- he hopes to reconnect with Bender, whom he considers a key figure in his acting career.

Of UH's Moody, who set all of this in motion, Friedrich is deeply appreciative. "He's a genuine fan, I've come to believe," the 49-year-old Friedrich said from his home in Albuquerque, N.M. "He's also been kind of persuasive in his desire to bring this body of work to people's attention. I'm flattered as hell."

COMEDIENNE Roseanne Barr bought a 46-acre farm on Honokaa Waipio Road in Honokaa/Hamakua on the Big Island for $1.78 million this week. Barr, 54, had joked to the media about purchasing a property that grows mac nuts, with a not-so-subtle reference to ending up on a "nut farm," according to Reuters. Big Time Listings reported the property has a modest 2,212-square-foot, three-bedroom ranch-style house with ocean views.

ENTERTAINMENT Weekly confirmed that Nikki (Kiele Sanchez) and Paulo (Rodrigo Santoro) are indeed dead and that we can't wish for them to emerge from their pit in the sand after breathing through 6-foot-long straws -- or something to that effect. They were pretty to look at, but most fans didn't like the characters' poorly orchestrated inclusion in the group of survivors anyway.

The good news is that next week we'll find out who the father of Sun's baby really is as writers try to wrap up details before the May 23 finale. After that, fans might have to wait until January for the new (and final?) season. Let's just hope producers don't do away with two relative latecomers -- Ben Linus (Michael Emerson) and Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) -- proving to be the show's most intriguing characters and nuanced actors.

We've mentioned it in this column before, but it won't hurt to remind everyone that Roy Disney will talk about the animation business as part of ACM's Master Class series, 5 to 7 p.m. tomorrow at UH. E-mail Lily Ching at lilychin@hawaii.edu to see if space is available.